The present invention relates in general to telecommunications networks and more particularly to a system for consolidating telecommunications traffic onto a minimum number of output paths.
Frame relay service providers, as well as asynchronous transfer mode service providers, require a sufficient number of ports in order to provide frame relay, and asynchronous transfer mode, services. However, these ports are extremely expensive to obtain compared to ports for a conventional cross-connect systems. Further, time division multiplexed links that provide access to frame relay services are extremely under-utilized due to the bursty nature of the information being transferred. The frame relay traffic is carried on fully allocated digital circuits such as DS-0, nxDS-0, T1, E1, T3, E3, et al. As a result, the variable bit rate characteristic of the frame relay traffic is not effectively exploited. Therefore, it is desirable to improve the efficiency of frame relay traffic transfer that would reduce the number of frame relay or asynchronous transfer mode ports required by the service provider.
From the foregoing, it may be appreciated that a need has arisen for an effective technique for transferring frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode traffic in order to reduce the number of ports required in handling this traffic. In accordance with the present invention, a system for consolidating telecommunications traffic onto a minimum number of output paths is provided that substantially reduce or eliminate disadvantages and problems associated with conventional frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode traffic transfer and processing.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a telecommunications system that includes a digital cross-connect matrix operable to transport telecommunications traffic from any of a plurality of input ports to any of a plurality of output ports. A plurality of frame groomers are each operable to receive telecommunications traffic from predetermined output ports of the digital cross-connect matrix. Each frame groomer is operable to consolidate received telecommunications traffic onto a minimum number of output links. A concentrator is operable to receive telecommunications traffic from each output link of each frame groomer. The concentrator is operable to place the received telecommunications traffic onto a minimum number of output paths.
The present invention provides various technical advantages over conventional frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode traffic transfer and processing techniques. For example, one technical advantage is to consolidate frame relay or asynchronous transfer mode traffic onto preferably a single output link. Another technical advantage is to reduce the number of ports required to receive and transfer frame relay or asynchronous transfer mode traffic. Yet another technical advantage is to select frames from a plurality of input links for placement onto a consolidated output link. Other technical advantages are readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, description, and claims.